Key Takeaways
- The Swedish ambassador was summoned by Saudi Arabia after a Quran burning at Stockholm’s Central Mosque.
- The protest occurred on the first day of Eid al-Adha, sparking worldwide condemnation.
- Regional bodies such as the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council denounced the act as extremist.
Riyadh: The Saudi Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that it had summoned the Swedish ambassador to Riyadh. The summons was over a recent incident where a Quran was burned in front of a mosque in Stockholm.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Ambassador of Sweden to the Kingdom and informed her of the Kingdom’s categorical rejection of an extremist’s burning of the Holy Qur’an in front of the Stockholm Central Mosque in #Sweden after Eid al-Adha,” the ministry said in a statement posted on Twitter.
Last week, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said the Quran-burning incident affected mutual respect, which is necessary for building relations between states and peoples and combating extremism.
On June 28, the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, a protest took place outside Stockholm’s main mosque, during which the Quran was burned. The Swedish police authorized the demonstration. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the authorization was “lawful but inappropriate.”
The desecration and burning of the Quran in Stockholm sparked a wave of condemnation around the world. Iraq has called on Swedish authorities to extradite the immigrant responsible for the incident. Many heads of state, along with the secretary general of the Arab League and the head of the Gulf Cooperation Council, have condemned the act.
